Fishing With Face

a story i've heard from a couple of guys is going out on the Chesapeake or the Atlantic in a small boat, and getting caught in a storm. A very small boat in the first case ... a chartered fishing boat, respectable size, in the second case. Chessie guy got rid of his boat, never went out again, won't really talk about it. Other guy was just a passenger but says that's when he got religion, on his knees praying to God to be saved.

First, to respond to petro's PM (and you may as well have just posted it, I don't care if you fill my thread with mass posts...) I don't know if I've ever seen a specified length to run a blower before attempting to start. Personally, I do take that seriously, and I remember being really GD uncomfy when a friend of mine flicked it on before immediately starting his boat. Like, let it air for a minute, huh? But while I may take it seriously, this is my first I/O and the first time I've been in one regularly in 22 years. It's not ingrained yet, but so far, I haven't missed a blow. I turn it on when I decide to go, so it runs while I'm either lowering the unit / untying from dock, or while I'm reeling in rods and raising anchor. I figure I got two batteries, no need to be a miser when the alternative is a huge kaboom. Also, yes, the cover is small (~4'x4'x4') and only sits in place wedged between little pieces of wood. With no latches or hinges and being all fibreglass, it is no effort at all to just tip it open. I just gotta pound it in my head to remember to do it.

Anyway, I got out again this weekend, hopeful because of my fish finder fix, but worried due to the incredible amount of rain received the last few days. I don't know what it is about my area; the wind blows from west to east, the mouth of the Catt is forced by the breakwall to enter the lake in an easterly direction, but somehow the crick always turns to flow down the shoreline to the west. As such, my bay was full of mud and the mud line ended in water too deep for my setup. I decided to motor several points down to escape the mud and try soft bait jigging for smallies and rock bass. Me and the boy drifted for about two hours, getting fooled by several snags and losing a few sinkers here and there before he finally agreed to try trolling. I gave an attempt with the main motor idling in gear as it's all I have and it seemed to be working OK, but just cruising randomly ended up being fruitless. We had no action.

Due to scheduling issue, the only way I could get out was if I met his mom at a marina several towns away, almost in Buffalo. And always being one to just wing it, that's what intended to do. Wasn't until I was on the water and committed that I realized this was easily a 50+mi round trip lol. And ya know... it was nice. I found that this boat ain't really any faster than Capt. Jax's Sparrow and its bitty 50hp two stroke, achieving only 5mph faster despite the 4.3L V6. But it has great grunt, and it handles the waves so incredibly superior to that little tin job that I was able to blast the whole way in perfect comfort, and the kid slept the whole trip. Half an hour straight at 85-90% throttle, 40min straight the way back, and everything worked just as it was supposed to. Damn, but that's a refreshing feeling =D

Once back "home", I pick up Snack Shack at the dock and we headed back out, this time trolling a shelf I found that the boy refused to try. Didn't go for 5min before I hooked into a smallie, losing it on the jump because I was too busy trying to get the damn boat into neutral >< Snacks hooked up shortly after, losing it because she doesn't really know how to fish lol. Had a good hook set, but didn't reel down to the fish. She kept just dropping the rod, putting a bunch of slack in the line and losing 2 or 3 before I finally hooked into my second and showed her what I meant by "reeling down to the fish". Nabbed my second, another little smallie…



Seeing what to do, she jumped right on it. Hooks came quick, and within 30 she had landed two freaking walleye. We were trolling in some 14' of water, and that's all she could catch. She caught 2 in like 10 min and I've caught maybe 3 or 4 in my entire life. Wtf...



The day was quite late and I had run the tank almost dry at this point... and hey, wtf is it with boat gauges? Any car or truck you're in, even going back to at least the 70's, and all modern atvs, side by sides, snowmobiles, every one tells you how much gas you got REGARDLESS of inertia. If I'm sitting at the trail head waiting with a quarter tank, and then start flying around and jumping all over, the gauge still says a quarter tank. Why do boats always have the damn mechanical gauges that slosh back and forth, back and forth? It's the most unstable vehicle of them all, so why has it been skipped when doling out the proper gauges? Ugh. But anyway, I trolled until the gauge would dip to empty and hang there, called it a day, and as soon as I powered out it began booming and banging with backfires, just as my wheeler does when it's almost dry. I had fortunately trolled right back to the mouth anyway, so was able to coax her in a half throttle without further incident.


Today I hope to remove the aft most pad and replace it with 2"x8" so I can attach some desperately needed rod holders, and I suppose finding a used 9.9 kicker is the next goal. Something about chugging the main motor makes me uncomfortable, and I do miss the security of having the extra powerplant. But hey, we're getting back out, and I still "got it", at least a little of it. Hopefully we can hit the shoal a few more times before I switch back to the cricks for the trout runs.

Still a bit short on pics as I always seem to be scrambling and don't have the time / patience, but here's the exterior and an idea of the interior. Cuauhtémoc is in the way, but you can get an idea of just how amazingly clean it is for being 30yrs old.

Is that velcro on your head?

That’s a fine looking boat Face. I’m glad to hear it is going fine for you. I’m curious about what the storage plans are for the winter. Do you have a barn?

Nice boat, bow-riders are the best for lake fishing.

Quote: Evenbob

Is that velcro on your head?

Nope, just my hair that I can't be arsed to shave regularly.

Quote: Ayecarumba

That’s a fine looking boat Face. I’m glad to hear it is going fine for you. I’m curious about what the storage plans are for the winter. Do you have a barn?

Ugh.

Lots of plans, just none I'm gonna be able to get done in time. I've gone full hick; I now have two pickups, two race cars, a wheeler trailer, a car trailer, a wheeler, and now this boat. And alls I got is a one car garage that I need as a shop, so everything is stacked up in the back yard lol. Should've just let my teeth go to complete to motif lol.

I promised myself I would shop it at the end of Sept, as I'm not cracking a block from failing to winterize. I've been thinking, and really should, have it shrink wrapped while it's there so I can just toss it out back without fear. I just don't have a clue as to the cost of it. If worst comes to worst, the cover shown is in pretty good condition; it's popped a few of the snaps, but it's not dry rotted or ripped anywhere. I suppose I could pull the little car out back and toss the covered boat under the back porch roof, which would leave only a bit of the bow exposed. And I usually tarp or otherwise block the porch off in winter, which worked perfectly well for my smaller boat.

Long term I'll likely extend my shed, giving a home to one of my cars, and I've contemplated banging down walls to turn my back porch into an extended garage. I also (long long term) want to build a shop out back, though that'll be for work and not so much storage. So... no, I guess I don't have much of a plan for the boat lol. Reckon between the porch and the tarps that I'll wrap it and shelter it Good Enough™ and just hope we don't get 8' of snow this year.

Quote: Face

Ugh.

Building a 1000sq ft barn was the
wisest investment I ever made.
12' to the rafters, 16' to the roof
peak. You can put a hell of a lot
of stuff into 1000 sq ft. That barn
has had many uses since 1993.

$5000 then, I have no idea what
they cost now.,

Quote: Face

First, to respond to petro's PM (and you may as well have just posted it, I don't care if you fill my thread with mass posts...) I don't know if I've ever seen a specified length to run a blower before attempting to start.

By the time I'd pm'd you, I had already realized that my post had become way to long, but internally, I had to make the point about ignition/fumes, and was already tired of my own rambling. hehe

I freely admit to being anal about boat safety. Nothing scarier than fire aboard the vessel, next I think is flooding?

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Personally, I do take that seriously, and I remember being really GD uncomfy when a friend of mine flicked it on before immediately starting his boat. Like, let it air for a minute, huh?

The boat manufacturers are remiss in adding a blower, making boaters have an unwarranted feeling of safety. They could just as easily have installed sensors to indicate the presence of explosive gasses. My camper has a gas alarm, why didn't my boat?

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But while I may take it seriously, this is my first I/O and the first time I've been in one regularly in 22 years.

I've never owned one, so you already have more experience than I, I hate to sound know it all. I'd say most of my experience comes from making plenty of mistakes. I do however try to capitalize on others mistakes if I can, by not trying to re invent the wheel, every time I go out.

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It's not ingrained yet, but so far, I haven't missed a blow. I turn it on when I decide to go, so it runs while I'm either lowering the unit / untying from dock, or while I'm reeling in rods and raising anchor. I figure I got two batteries, no need to be a miser when the alternative is a huge kaboom. Also, yes, the cover is small (~4'x4'x4') and only sits in place wedged between little pieces of wood. With no latches or hinges and being all fibreglass, it is no effort at all to just tip it open. I just gotta pound it in my head to remember to do it.

Just got to make it a habit. Removing or tipping up the cover is much more helpful than hitting the blower switch. I would freak out if the cap'n hit both switch's almost simultaneously.

Anyway, I got out again this weekend, hopeful because of my fish finder fix, but worried due to the incredible amount of rain received the last few days. I don't know what it is about my area; the wind blows from west to east, the mouth of the Catt is forced by the breakwall to enter the lake in an easterly direction, but somehow the crick always turns to flow down the shoreline to the west. As such, my bay was full of mud and the mud line ended in water too deep for my setup. I decided to motor several points down to escape the mud and try soft bait jigging for smallies and rock bass. Me and the boy drifted for about two hours, getting fooled by several snags and losing a few sinkers here and there before he finally agreed to try trolling. I gave an attempt with the main motor idling in gear as it's all I have and it seemed to be working OK, but just cruising randomly ended up being fruitless. We had no action.

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Half an hour straight at 85-90% throttle, 40min straight the way back, and everything worked just as it was supposed to. Damn, but that's a refreshing feeling =D

That's great. It feels good when you can just boat, instead of worrying about everything. At 90% throttle, is it also 90% of redline on the tach?

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I was too busy trying to get the damn boat into neutral ><

hehehe


Snacks hooked up shortly after, losing it because she doesn't really know how to fish lol. Had a good hook set, but didn't reel down to the fish. She kept just dropping the rod, putting a bunch of slack in the line and losing 2 or 3 before I finally hooked into my second and showed her what I meant by "reeling down to the fish". Nabbed my second, another little smallie…

Quote:

The day was quite late and I had run the tank almost dry at this point... and hey, wtf is it with boat gauges?

They are a bunch of liars. Similar to speed limit signs in Az., more of a suggestion than a rule. Great to hear you are considering a kicker. Possibly with a small separate fuel source. One ship can change your mind about a lot of things. : )

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Ugh. But anyway, I trolled until the gauge would dip to empty and hang there, called it a day, and as soon as I powered out it began booming and banging with backfires,

Well at least we have established the fact that it can backfire, sorry to nag.

A few times when I had passengers and they were instructed to step off of my motor hatches, I got some inquisical looks, and it isn't handy all the time to lift the hatch, but that's how it is. I don't know their reason, but as you say, your hatch isn't bolted or locked down. [I'll let it go]

Ok, moving on. What kind and how old is your fire extinguisher, dry chemical I assume? As you know, those are supposed to be turned upside down and shaken regularly so the chemical doesn't cake. I liked having a CO2 extinguisher, just in case I ever had to spray the motor, or chill beer. : ) Can't tell in the pic, is the kid wearing his pfd, as required by law?

Thanks for sharing

nice, Face!

Hey, I've even gone so far as to check the blower hoses to ensure they're not ripped and just blowing the fumes about the bay, AND have checked the vents to ensure I can feel a solid draft exiting. We're doing good so far =)

And the kicker is not a consideration, it's a must. But at some $1,400 new, I gotta wait for a Craigslist special to avail itself. Doubtful I'll have it this year as there's only about 6 weeks left in the season, but since every single thing else is 5-by, it's the very first thing on my list to get.

The tach I'm unsure of. It goes to 7k but there's no red. I've gone at full throttle a few times but each time was less than 5 seconds, just horsing around. And during those times, it hasn't even reached 4k. My rip to the city was @ ~3,200, ~2,700 seems to be the comfy, economic cruising speed, and it's at ~700 when idling in gear trolling. I can't say I care if it works at all; I've become too much of a skinflint for any full speed runs, and none of my fishing spots are all that far for a cruise requiring high speeds.

The backfiring scared me, honestly. I'm too ignorant of boats to know exactly what's going on, and the exhaust bellow is already shot. Not that I'm worried about the exhaust bellow, but I don't know what sort of stress it's putting where. Is it causing shocks there at the bellow, where my other bellow that keeps the boat above water is, possibly stressing it? Or is it up in the pipe causing regular ol' motor issues? Dunno, but I didna like it lol. Luckily I average that sort of lengthy cruising once every 25 years, so I doubt it'll ever be an issue again =)

Extinguisher is dry chem, good gauge but unsure of age. TBH, it's hard to envision ever using it. If a fire starts and the nearest beer doesn't put it out, I'm tf out of the boat lol. Reckon it's easier to not drown than not burn =p

And NO, the kid didn't have his PFD on =p School shopping and dental bills drained the account and all I had was those true livesavers that you can't move it, the ones that save you even if unconscious. Rolled right by the Coast Guard with him in back and beer in hand, didn't say a word. Don't worry, I WILL get my s#$% together, likely before going out next week. Gonna get him and Snack on the controls so they both can operate if I go down.

But HEY... I GOT SURGE BRAKES ON THE TRAILER =D